A Notebook Valentine
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: A lonely night spent watching The Notebook turns into a night Melissa won't forget when Jackson shows up at her door, heartbroken and in need of his best friend. Through Noah and Allie, Jackson and Melissa just may find what they've been looking for...in each other.


_"You and I were different. _  
_We came from different worlds, _  
_and yet you were the one who taught me _  
_the value of love. You showed me what it was like,_  
_to care for another, and I am a better man because of it._  
_I don't want you to ever forget that."- Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook_

* * *

Valentine's Day Party of One, your table's ready.

Yes, it had come to that. As sad as it was to think about, she was spending Valentine's Day alone. She had, had no intention of doing so but her best friend had brought her plans to an abrupt end when he had sprinted up to her at school and announced that he had worked up the courage to ask Taylor out and she'd say yes. Of course, Melissa Wu, being the good girl of a best friend that she is, shot him a sugary-sweet smile and offered him a sincere - okay, there may have been some sarcasm but he was so giddy, he missed it - congratulations when what she really wanted to do was offer him condolences on his date.

Nathan was still her friend and they both had not-so fond memories of his time, not at all well spent dating Taylor Hagan. She was blonde, ditzy and probably the fakest person Melissa had ever had the displeasure of being introduced too. She was the 'good' best friend so Jackson would not hear what she really thought of Taylor nor would he ever hear the scathing lecture the blonde would be receiving if Jackson came crawling back to her with a broken heart.

So, with a sigh of sullen resignation, she ordered some pizza, grabbed a soda, shoved a movie into the DVD player and settled in on the couch in her favorite pajamas. Okay, no, _The Notebook _wasn't exactly the kind of movie you watch alone on Valentine's Day but it brought her to tears and drew from her the wistful thoughts of someday having a love strong enough to last an entire lifetime. That said, she could also never resist Ryan Gosling and the scruff, so all in all she liked to think she was somewhat justified.

_"I am no one special, just a common man with common thoughts. I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me, and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect, I've succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and for me, that has always been enough." _James Garner's gravelly voice filled her living room and a soft smile pulled at her lips at the familiar words.

_"-June 6th, 1940." _

The way Noah was able to recite the date he met his soulmate with such clarity reminded her of her best friend. Jackson could recite the date they met with perfect clarity and never once did she ever think he'd be that kind of friend. She'd also never taken him for being particularly nostalgic so it came as quite a shock to her when he confided that the book he had been reading they met stayed in his bedside table with the date and her name written in the margins on the page he had been reading. It was bizarre to think of him as someone who would do that but Jackson was so full of surprises, she had merely smiled and tucked away the little tidbit in the back of her mind, to be recalled when she was mad at him.

The doorbell rang just as Noah asked Allie to dance with him in the middle of the street. She sighed and tossed the paper plate with her pizza on it on the coffee table before pausing the movie and getting up to answer the door. She ran her hand through her hair and pulled the door open.

There he stood and oh-dear-God did he look good.

His leather jacket was worn, pulling taut across his shoulders and she could just see the dark blue collar of his button-down shirt peeking out, perfectly matched with dark jeans - obviously new, judging by the decided lack of fading. He looked forlorn and the anger flickered in his eyes. She looked down and found him clenching a bouquet of blood red roses and a plastic bag from the drug store down the street.

"Jackson?"

"Taylor flaked." Jackson looked up at his best friend, his blue eyes dark and his voice sullen and hoarse. "Completely flaked."

Resisting the urge to scowl and already forming the scathing lecture in her mind, she opened the door and let him in. She smiled as she helped him out of his jacket and set it on the table by the door. She led him into the living room and motioned to the TV; "I was watching _The Notebook._"

"Mind if I join you?" Jackson held up the white plastic bag and the roses, "I brought candy and these roses were for Taylor. Would you mind throwing them away?"

Melissa pursed her lips together, taking the flowers to dump in the trash. She smiled sympathetically and tilted her head toward the open pizza box on the coffee table; "Pepperoni. Your favorite. Help yourself. You must be hungry."

"Thanks Mel." Jackson smiled gratefully. "I brought tons of chocolate."

"Good." Without a second thought, Melissa dumped the roses into the trash can, grabbed a soda from the fridge and made her way back into the living room where Jackson was helping himself to some pizza. "Here's a soda."

"Thanks Mel." He took the soda from her, looking up at her gratefully. "I'm sorry if I ruined your night."

"Jackson, I was alone watching The Notebook. If anything you improved my night." Melissa laughed, folding into the couch with her pizza and soda in hand. "Now, shall we?"

"Of course."

Melissa smiled and reached forward to press play on the remote. The movie resumed playing and Jackson leaned back into the couch, content to enjoy a night with his best friend. Yes, it had hurt him that Taylor had flaked but sitting here now, watching a chick-flick and eating pizza with his best friend made him realize that Taylor would never be it for him. Taylor would have been covered in a pound of glittery make-up whereas Melissa sat next to him in faded black and gray plaid flannel pajama pants and a gray tank top decorated with white hearts, no make-up on and her hair knotted on the back of her head. She was comfortable enough to be herself around him, whereas Taylor never would be.

"I like this," Jackson murmured, looking over at Melissa while a montage of Noah and Allie's fights and make-ups played on the screen. "I like this better than I would have liked being out with Taylor."

"I like this too, Jack." Melissa smiled over at him.

_"-They were crazy about each other." _

The silence resumed once again, with both of them focused on the movie. Before long, Jackson was half-sitting, half-laying on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table and Melissa curled into his side. A half-empty pizza box and two bottles of soda sat on the coffee table in front of them and time slowly slipped away from them as they were entangled in the wistful story of a romance that lasted a lifetime. She had one arm slung casually across his stomach, and the other somewhere behind him. He was playing with the knot of her hair on the back of her head with one hand while the other was entwined with her arm on his stomach.

_"'The poems of the privacy of the night, and of men like me, this poem drooping shy and unseen that I always carry, and that all men carry..'" _Melissa recited easily with Ryan Gosling.

"You know it?" Jackson looked down at her in surprise.

"Spontaneous Me. It's by Walt Whitman." Melissa told him softly, leaning her head against his chest. "I looked it up after the first time I watched this movie."

"You like poetry?"

"My Dad does. He used to read poems to me as bedtime stories." Melissa smiled into his shirt at the memory. "It was our thing."

Jackson nodded in understanding, pressing a gentle kiss to her head. His fingers worked the hair elastic from her hair and in the dim light from the TV, he watched the ebony strands fall around her shoulders and down her back. He combed his fingers through the long strands, detangling them and and smoothing them. He could feel her relax as his hand worked through her hair and the movement was starting to have a hypnotic effect on him.

xxx

_"She had come back into his life like a sudden flame; blazing and streaming into his heart. Noah stayed up all night contemplating the certain agony he knew would be his if he were to lose her twice." _

James Garner's words resonated with Jackson.

There was something about the firestorm Allie had created with Noah that reminded him so much of the way his best friend had come into his life. She had been persistent, never giving up on her quest to befriend and ultimately, in a strange way, it had been what he needed at the time. He had been the new kid at Hartwell High, sulking and brooding at having to go to school with a bunch of snobs but she had changed that. She had proved that they weren't all snobs and had eased him out of that mindset with her friendship. It hadn't been easy, he knew. It couldn't have been easy for her; his social worker had informed him many times that he wasn't easy to deal with.

"Melissa," He pressed a gentle kiss into the top of her head, breathing in the sweet fragrance of raspberries and cream that emanated from her silky locks. "Thank you."

Melissa tilted her head back to look at him and smiled sleepily, "Whatever for?"

He pondered for a moment, gathering his words - and courage - and spoke again, barely above a soft, quiet murmur. "For coming into my life the way you did. For changing my mind. For giving me my life back. Just for being there."

"Anytime," Melissa leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I'm always here."

"I know." Jackson nodded, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall. "I know and I'm sorry for not seeing it sooner."

"Don't be sorry." Melissa shook her head, twisting her body so that she was sitting next to him, arms still wrapped around his abdomen, keeping him close to her. "I understand. I didn't at the time but I do now. You'd been through a lot. I was probably the last thing you wanted at the time."

"Yes, but Mel, you were what I needed and it took me a month being stranded on an island to realize that." Jackson informed her, "I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize that."

"Jackson, you have nothing to apologize for." Melissa shook her head, swatting at his arm. "Nothing. You'd been through a lot at the time. Do you remember when I ruined the matches?"

"Yeah?" Jackson gazed at her inquisitively.

"It took you helping me for me to realize that Nathan's temper was something I shouldn't have to deal with." Melissa reached for his hand, wrapping her fingers around his and bringing it up to her mouth, pressing tender kisses on the knuckles. "It took me a month of being stranded on an island with you for me to realize that Nathan was never the kind of best friend I needed. You were. You were genuine and honest, something that Nathan never was. He never told me the truth about anything. He was always afraid of hurting my feelings when sometimes, I wish someone would have."

"He just wanted to protect you." Jackson tilted his head, "You know that."

"Yes I know and I appreciate that but I also appreciate the fact that you didn't try to protect me from the truth. You aren't afraid of telling me the truth, even if it means I get my feelings hurt." Melissa chuckled quietly, "You aren't afraid of telling me when I'm being an insufferable pain in the ass."

"Which you are, most of the time." Jackson noted with a teasing laugh. "It's how we are. We'd rather be honest with each other than lie and be miserable."

"We're turning into Noah and Allie." Melissa laughed, rubbing his forearm with her hand. "And I like that we're honest with each other."

"Well then let me be honest now." Jackson sighed softly, slipping his arms around her waist and tugging her into his lap. "I didn't ask Taylor out because I like her. I can't stand her as anything more than that insufferable friend I don't want to deal with but do anyway. I asked her out because I was avoiding the truth."

"The truth?" Melissa tucked herself into him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"The truth, Mel." Jackson nodded, kissing her temple. "The truth is I'm in love with my best friend. I have been for a long time now. I was just too afraid to tell her because I was afraid she didn't feel the same instead of just telling her and dealing with it, I tried to avoid it only to have it backfire in my face and force me to confront the truth."

Melissa giggled sweetly, "Avoidance is never the answer."

"I know that now." Jackson chuckled looking down at her. "I'm in love with you, Mel."

Melissa shifted in his lap, straddling him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm in love with you too, Jackson. You know that."

"Good," Jackson grinned, cupping her face in his hands. "Then you won't mind if I do this."

Without need of instruction, Melissa leaned forward and was immediately swept into a mind-blowing kiss. It wasn't soft and gentle. It was in true Jackson form, slightly rough and honest, emotionally charged and powerful enough, she's positive the Earth tilted off of it's axis for the duration of it. She's not sure she's ever been kissed like this and it has only taken one kiss from her best friend to ruin every other kiss for her. He's spoiled her now. She'll never have enough of him; she'll always crave his kisses now.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Jackson."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Melissa."

The kisses continued and the movie played on behind them, with Noah and Allie finding their way back to each other and letting the power of their love carry them away together into a peaceful eternity. On the table the bag of chocolate he brought in preparation for a night of wallowing in his own pathetic self-pity remained untouched. The same way Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton had found their soul-mates in each other, Cody Jackson had found his soul-mate in Melissa Wu.

* * *

**Hahaha! This is for my best friend. She loves The Notebook - erm, Ryan Gosling mostly but she does like the movie too - and Johnny Pacar, so here is the best of both worlds. Jackson/Melissa meets the Notebook. It was so quick and natural to write, I almost feel like it's missing something.**


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